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The knives sharpen on Jay Cutler – from inside his team

After a 31-15 Monday night loss at home to New Orleans, Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler sat slumped at the podium with a black Vanderbilt cap pulled over his brow. He answered three questions from media and then left the stage, before most of the reporters arrived. It was another of his almost-no-shows, and it followed a 3-interception performance that brought his NFL-leading turnover lead to 24. He didn’t blame it on Bears offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer, who last week sobbed during a team meeting as he apologized for being the source of some of the intel on Cutler’s lack of leadership and a growing sentiment that the team erred in making him the highest-paid player in the league, at $22.5 million this year and at $15.5 million guaranteed for 2015. Ian Rapaport on NFL GameDay Morning reported that head coach Marc Trestman considered firing Kromer but decided to keep his most valued assistant and hope he can soothe Cutler’s wounded feelings. “Talking to people close to Jay Cutler,” Rapaport said, “he was definitely hurt . . . surprised that Aaron Kromer would do something like this.” JonGruden said on ESPN:“It’s fair to ask whether the Bears signed the right quarterback this past offseason.” He suggested they would have been better off keeping JoshMcCown, who is 2-12 for Tampa Bay, with a passer rating of 72.6, compared to Cutler’s 89.5.

Ex-Browns star QB Kosar rips team’s front office

Bernie Kosar, the Cleveland Browns’ best quarterback for the past three decades, said the team’s front office lacks vision and has a “systematic” problem within the organization. He called the decision to make Johnny Manziel the 21st starting QB since 1999 “a recipe for disaster.”

Chris Johnson’s problem? He’s too fast

Frank Wycheck, a former teammate of Chris Johnson when they played for the Tennessee Titans, told the New York Times the running back’s extreme speed – 4.24 seconds for the 40-yard dash – caused him to wear out his welcome. After six seasons he was cut by the Titans and is now the No. 2 running back (behind Chris Ivory) for the New York Jets. Wycheck said Johnson hit holes too quickly, in hopes of breaking a long gain. “You have to be patient, set up the blocks, let the guys up front take over, get to the next level and then hit the jets.”

Kurt Busch described by ex as a depressed alcoholic

It’s been a bad week for NASCAR. Sprint announced it was pulling out of its sponsorship of the premier Cup series (No more Sprint Cup), and one of its star drivers, Kurt Busch, was in court defending himself against charges of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Testifying at a hearing in Dover, Del., Patricia Driscoll described Busch as saying, “The world is crashing down on me,” and that he would “drink himself to death.” She detailed an incident in which he allegedly “sprang up from the bed, grabbed me by the throat with one hand and face with the other and smashed my face into the wall three times.”

NHL’s Girgensons benefits from Latvian ballot-stuffing

Latvian hockey fans are stuffing the All-Star ballot boxes for their favorite son, Zemgus Girgensons. The Buffalo Sabres center is drawing more All-Star votes than any other player in voting sponsored by SiriuxXM. He has more than 1 million votes – twice as many as Chicago Blackhawks superstar Patrick Kane. According to USA Today, most of Girgensons’ votes are coming from Latvia, a country of only 2 million people. Which is not to say the 20-year-old Gurgensons is entirely undeserving. He leads Buffalo in goal-scoring, and the team’s general manager, Tim Murray, said, “I don’t know if people know, but he’s a heck of a hockey player.”

Texas Longhorns sign fourth Clemens son

Kody Clemens, the last of Roger Clemens’ four sons, followed family tradition by signing to play baseball at the University of Texas. He’s a middle infielder with a physique very different from that of his father and brothers. He lacks the barrel chest and tree-trunk thighs but is a stringbean at 6-feet, 175 pounds. “I didn’t get the Roger Clemens big bone, big-body type,” he told the Austin American-Statesman. “I took after my mom.”

Kobe passes Jordan, calls teammates ‘soft like Charmin’

Kobe Bryant passed Michael Jordan to become the NBA’s No. 3 all-time scorer – trailing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone — but the Los Angeles Lakers guardhas been having to answer questions about a tirade in practice in which he accused his teammates of being “soft like Charmin.” In that practice, Nick Young talked back to Bryant. Later, Young said, “When I play out there, I don’t play like Charmin. I like Scott Tissue. It’s a little tougher.”